Infant feeding support: Role description

Duties (what you will be doing):

• Talking with women on the antenatal ward about antenatal resources to support their postnatal parenting and feeding journey
• Teaching hand expression to families in the antenatal period who have been nominated by the midwives
• Talk to new mothers about infant feeding and understanding their baby
• Complement the work of postnatal ward staff by helping mothers to breastfeed. This might involve offering reassurance and hands-off support to resolve problems
• Work under the supervision of the clinical team; this involves reporting to the senior staff member when you begin your shift, maintaining a record of your interactions with parents in the newborn notes, and reporting any issues back to the midwife.
• Give information to new mothers around sources of help and support

Boundaries (what you won’t be doing):

• No clinical care of patients
• No parenting
• Do not give advice to mothers with premature or otherwise unwell babies unless you have checked with midwife in charge
• No personal care such as washing or toileting
• Should not be involved in any discussions with clients re medicines/drugs and breastfeeding
• No lifting or helping lift women/patients
• No picking up a baby without mother’s permission
• Should not walk around the ward carrying a baby. Babies must always be kept next to the mother’s bed
• Should never touch a mother’s breasts
• Should not deal with body products or fluids except for expressed breast milk.

Time commitment:

Mondays, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and every other Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm (volunteers must do a shift of at least 3 hours during these times)

Volunteers must commit to at least one half-day shift per week for a minimum of six months from the date of your qualification in infant feeding.

For the full document please download the attached PDF

You may also be interested in:

• Infant feeding
• Medical assessment unit support
• Midwifery led unit
• Postnatal support